Page 266 - Seekers Guide Book

The Wisdom of Life

–
47 We feel guilty how should we
get rid of it?

ou should not rid yourself of the feeling of guilt – if
Ysomeone thinks that he has become the best, it is the
worst mistake. The Companions of the Prophet were
very pious and used to perform good deeds, but would
still think that they were doing nothing. When the
second caliph Umar was assassinated and was breathing
his last, he was lying on the lap of his son, Abdullah ibn
Umar. To allay his pain, his son said that he had been the
Companion of the Prophet and recounted several of his
virtues and achievements. At this, Umar said to his son:

Do not deceive me! All I want is that in the
Hereafter my scales of good and bad deeds
balance out each other: there be nothing
against me nor anything in my favour.
(Sahih ibn Hibban, hadith no. 6891 and
Musnad Ahmad, hadith no. 322)

That is, Umar, in spite of being a senior Companion of
the Prophet and the second caliph of Islam, felt that if in
the Hereafter his good deeds balanced out his bad deeds,
it would be a great achievement. He never entertained
the feeling that his good deeds were so numerous that
they would easily weigh heavier on the scales against his
bad deeds. So, the feeling of guilt is not wrong – it has a
very positive role to play.

265